As we embark on the mad pace to get RAW ready for publication within a few months, one of the first items to check off was the design of the cover.
My publisher (InkNBeans Press) and I wanted the cover to have a single dramatic image because it would need to look good on Amazon, as an iPad icon, and in grayscale on the Kindle. We didn’t want it to feel sterile or artificial. The book takes place primarily in a rural area. This is a book in which the prairie and raw milk play a role. It would need to have an organic feel. We decided on a milk bottle in the middle of an expanse of grass.
My wife procured for me some antique milk bottles from her mom’s antique shop, Log Cabin Antiques in Lone Jack, Missouri. These are the kind made of thick, clear glass, thinner at the throat and then broad at the mouth.
I called the namesake of Julia Shapiro Photography to take the pictures. Julia prides her self on her analog approach to photography: real film camera, black and white stock, hand tinted prints. She does beautiful work.
We went out on a hot July afternoon to see if we could get the perfect picture of the milk bottle (filled with cold, whole milk). Oddly enough we located a bit of native prairie grass on the Sprint Campus, of all places. They have an area of native grass there, which you can see in the background. The stuff in the foreground appears to be mowed, so I dont think it counts as tallgrass.
Here’s a map that shows where we shot the pictures for the cover and the video for the trailer.
Looks sort of silly from this angle.
Julia shooting the cover image
So here it is, the final result:
The latest iteration of the cover.
We think it turned out great. It has the dramatic single image, a definitely non-Photoshop feel, and my name in big white letters on it.
So what do you think? Would you buy this book?
{ 32 comments… read them below or add one }
WOW! Steve, this is GREAT!!!!! After talking with Amy Barickman about the thought process that goes into how her books will look on a shelf, the font on the binding and all… I didn’t even consider how it would look on Amazon, Kindle, iPad. I’m so proud of you. Definitely an eye catching cover that piques my interest. (clap clap clap) #anothertalenttoaddtoyourlistofplenty
Thanks, Alexis!
Yes, I will buy the book.
But I also have to tell you what my brain thought when I saw the final picture: Golf Course Milk.
I’m sorry my brain thought that, because I really like the cover. But my brain did think Golf Course Milk, and not Prairie Grass Milk.
I’ll buy it either way.
Oh, didn’t I mention that I changed it to a book about golf course milk? It’s all the rage.
love it. well done.
Thanks, Billy B.
I love it. I would buy it.
Thanks Heather!
Steve,
I like it very much. I thought about Bjorn’s comment about “golf course milk,” and can see what he means, but that was not my initial reaction. If you were to add something to make the cover a little more “country” (a haybale, a wagon, a closer thatch of wheat), it may prove counterproductive. Given the “raw food” movement, the “buy local” movement and other new ways us city folks are thinking of the food we eat, I think the cover will intrigue those readers who might otherwise be put off by a perceived “farm” novel. Congrats, again. Can’t wait to read it.
Thanks Tedrick. The spartan, wide-open look is part of the story too, because he comes from New York, where you have to look for the sky, to Manhattan, KS, where the sky looms over everything.
I love it!
Thanks Amy!
I love the visual. I adore that the pix is from the Sprint campus (ah, the irony!). I’m intrigued.
Yes, perhaps it is sacrilege to try to fake the Flint Hills for the cover, but the trailer (coming soon) was shot entirely on location.
Love it! This is so exciting.
Thank you, Rebecca!
It looks GREAT Steve….NOTHING like a golf course. If I didn’t know better, and I do, I’d think we were in the Flint Hills!
Perhaps a FLint Hills golf course… maybe not.
Steve,
The juxtaposition of analog photography and digital publication is fantastic. I want to use this on your author’s page, if I may. Also, the texture of colors in the background almost suggests a tornado, does it not, Toto?
The Boss Bean
Thanks, Boss. It does kind of look a little menacing!!! And of course, use away on the author page!!!
LOVE IT.
Yet another reason why Steve Revare rocks.
Thanks, Debbie. I hope you are keeping a list. Then if I am feeling down I can call you. You can be my human Paxil.
Cover looks great — agree the analog approach works well here…
Congrats again, Mr. Revare, and Best of Luck!
Thanks Mr. Linafelt. Your wife’s picture turned out great, eh?
Hi Human Paxil ! I think this pic is terrif! I do think “the latest iteration of the cover” should STAY on the cover!
See you at the book signing at Borders…will you be dressed as a milk jug while doing autographs?
Do you know how hard it is to hold a Sharpie while dressed as milk? Do you? DO YOU?
Of course I will be dressed as milk some days. Other days you’ll find me looking like a wheel of camembert. There’s just no telling!
Love It.
Would Buy It.
Got it – Milk, that is.
No one has made any milk jokes yet?
You are the first, Courtney. Congratulations!!
Love the cover….cant wait to read it.
I would like mine autographed please!!
Looks great Steve. The cover actually intrigues me to want to know what it’s about.
I was hopping for a “warmly inscribed” first edition from the author.
The photo is good.
And to think I knew you when you were no taller than that tallgrass… The cover is striking, dramatic in it’s simplicity. Would definitely pick it up, even if I hadn’t known the author since I was 5. Love Julia, too. She shot my kids when they were babies and they are my favorite photos of the girls, still. Best of luck with your book. Can’t wait for my signed copy!
Julie
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